<p>Dear all,</p>
<p>I am an undergraduate student at NYU recently forced into a Leave of Absence from the university this semester because:</p>
<p>1) Retraction of Financial Aid due to dependency on father mis-stating some income (mother passed away a long time ago)
2) Homelessness (Ongoing for the past 5 years, due to unstable family)</p>
<p>Under FAFSA federal guidelines, I am considered an independent based on being homeless (although given a temporary place to stay by a friend's family). My district's high school counseling center will send NYU a letter on my behalf stating their knowledge of my situation (which extends back to high school years). On top of that, two families will give NYU statements on their history of housing me often for periods of over half a year at a time, including a social worker.</p>
<p>However, I have a feeling that, despite even all this proof that under FAFSA guidelines that I am considered homeless, NYU Financial Aid Office will still be resistant on treating me as an independent-status student. They have shown resistance before, and I just always get the feeling that they don't care about my situation and just don't want to accommodate my situation, so that I leave.</p>
<p>Has anyone been in a similar situation where you have qualified for independent status? What did you do? Who did you talk to? Any tips/advice?</p>
<p>I wish you luck and I hope someone can help you with this. Be aware that NYU is a private school and does not use just the FAFSA EFC to give out its own money. And it does not even meet need that it defines. </p>
<p>That you are independent due to FAFSA rules, and have no income, may mean you can get PELL and the Stafford loans up to the independent limit for your year of study. That still doesn’t touch what NYU costs . That’s $16K,maybe. Anything else is up to them and they don’t have to give you a dime. </p>
<p>That amount of money, the $16 K might get you close to where you can go to a state school if you can work to make up some of the gap. Start looking at such options in case you get nowhere with NYU.</p>
<p>I hope someone can help you with NYU and that they ante up, but in case they do not, please look at other school and living options.</p>
<p>How were you able to pay for UMass Amherst before you transferred to NYU? If your father paid for that I would also have a problem with just declaring you independent.</p>
<p>How is it that you have your father’s financial information in the picture at all misstating any thing if you are independent? You either are or you are not, you can’t have a foot in each camp. It appears as though you applied to NYU as a transfer as a dependent student, got aid, and then something came up in your father’s tax info during verification, and the school retracted your aid. Now you are saying you are independent because you qualify through the homeless shelter provision. That you might, but you when you switch status in the same year, you are going to confuse matters. Are you independent or not? Also, as I said above, though you might qualify as independent for FAFSA, that doesn’t mean any school has to accept that status when it comes to using their own money. Not only that,even if they do, NYU is not a school that guarantees to meet needs, they can just decline to fund you. No explanation necessary. </p>
<p>BUt they would not have your father’s info unless he sent it in. You have to decide how you are going to go with all of this.</p>